Clava Thessara Infinitas: 02 Clava Atlantus
by pfyre1
Summary: What if Major Sheppard had not accompanied that first SGA mission to Athos?


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Segment Title: 02 Clava Atlantus (key to Altantis)

Series: Clava Thessara Infinitas (key to infinite treasure)

Previous Segment: 01 Gauisus Casualis

Upcoming Segments: 03 Perennial Adventus (the approaching disaster)

By: §fyre (mailto:pfyre at pfyre dot co dot uk)

Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis

Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Elizabeth Weir, Carson Beckett, Marshall Sumner

Pairing: none so far...

Rating: M (language)

Spoilers: 1.01/1.02 (so far)

Category: Angst, hurt/comfort, whumpage

Warnings: none so far

Disclaimer: "Stargate: Atlantis" and its characters and situations are the creative and intellectual properties of Robert C. Cooper, Joseph Mallozzi, Brad Wright, Paul Mullie, Sony Pictures Television, Acme Shark, SciFi Channel, MGM Television, Pegasus Productions. This fiction was written solely for the entertainment of Stargate: Atlantis, John Sheppard whumpers and Joe Flanigan fans. No monies made. No copyright infringement is intended.

Summary: What if Major Sheppard had not accompanied that first SGA mission to Athos?

Beta: Oz (the glorious and mysterious) - betareader extraordinaire - Many, many thanks to Oz. She is my PiaP. She's also been dragged into fandoms I'm certain she never would've touched if it weren't for me. Thankfully she usually forgives me and does a bang up job making my attempts at writing sound coherent, intelligent - even literate. Any remaining mistakes are my own.

A/N: Well, despite a quick start on this segment , the muse decided to be finicky (it dropped a start of another fic into my lap and then left both unfinished! argh!). SIGH. Several months of poking at it, adding dribs and dabs, tweaking and reworking and some dialogue with a couple of fellow fans along with my PiaP (who is also my beta) and you have before the finished product. Thank the Ancients.

As for the next installment - I have some ideas floating around but at the moment the muse hasn't demanded my attention to them yet. We'll have to wait and see I guess. Anyway on with the story...

Feedback: Feedback is greatly encouraged. Flames will be ignored.

ooOoo

**Clava Thessara Infinitas**

**02 Clava Atlantus**

ooOoo

Major John Sheppard blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the much lower light levels on the Pegasus side of the wormhole. Other than a sharp slap of bitter cold, travel through the Gate had not been painful. He turned on the light attached to his P90 and slowly scanned the area. He noticed that a few lights popped on and brightened around them, seemingly a reaction to their presence.

The differences between this Gateroom and the one at SGC Headquarters could not be more dramatic. The Atlantis Gate itself appeared more modern (though he supposed that probably was not quite proper terminology for something that was at least several hundred millennia old), with symbols, Chevrons, illuminated from within and glowing green. The Gateroom itself even in the low light appeared more stylish, elegant perhaps in stark contrast to the bare functionality of the Earthside counterpart constructed of concrete and steel.

"Teams one and two, secure the immediate area." Sheppard watched as the marines moved swiftly to follow orders. "Everyone else find an open space and park it until instructed otherwise." Sumner's voice carried to those not yet up on the voice com network.

"Hey." He noticed McKay standing slightly behind his left shoulder. Something about the darkened gate area made even the Canadian scientist speak in hushed almost awed tones. John nodded then stepped to the main flight of stairs in front of them. There were already a few marines checking the second level, but he figured what the hell.

He set a boot on the first stair only to have it light up instantly. Pausing for a moment, he hesitantly put his foot on the next step and that lit up along with the ones above it. He glanced at McKay who appeared perplexed.

"Who's doing that?" Behind them, Dr. Weir looked around the upper level intrigued.

"Security teams: any alien contact?" Sumner queried his men.

"Negative, sir." "Team four. Negative, Colonel."

The hairs on the back of his neck were prickling as he and McKay reached the landing. He turned to a darkened room to his right and more lights flickered on. "The lights are coming on by themselves."

Careful to not touch anything, Sheppard edged his way across the room to a balcony. Behind him, Rodney muttered about it probably being a control room for the gate as he lifted a dust-sheet (the Ancients used dust-covers - who knew?) draping one of the consoles and studied the large translucent keys that were revealed. The last of the expedition members were straggling through the gate and finally the last of Sumner's men came through and gave his CO a nod.

"That's everyone." Sumner turned to Dr. Weir who was waiting at the debarkation area.

"General O'Neill." She spoke into her radio. "Atlantis base offers greetings from the Pegasus Galaxy. You may cut power to the Gate."

A bottle rolled out of the Gate and across the floor and moments later the Gate shut down. Weir picked up the magnum of 'Moët & Chandon' champagne and read the handwritten tag attached to its neck. 'Bon Voyage! General Jack O'Neill'. Dr. Weir smiled up at Sheppard and McKay on the balcony, showing them the bottle. Sheppard nodded to her.

John knew that Elizabeth Weir had every right to be ecstatic over having managed to get the expedition through the trans-galaxy wormhole and safely in the city of the Ancients. It had truly been a massive, magnificent effort on her part, on the part of so many. He just could not help but feel like there was something they were missing; something they just were not seeing.

He rubbed the back of his neck. That feeling of being watched was back... No, that was not quite accurate. It was more like being nudged by someone or something trying to get his attention. It almost reminded him of what happened when he had been ten and his dog greeted him at the door and his hands were too full to pet the pooch. It was like that cool wet nose prodding at his knee and hip trying to get his acknowledgment. He frowned as he felt the first pricklings of a headache taking hold. He did NOT have time for this. Dammit.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to check out the walkway that led out of the control room. At the far end an empty area(an office probably as there was a bare desk on one side with a long padded bench along one wall and not much else) lit up as he stepped in. While part of him wanted to believe that something akin to a motion or proximity sensor was causing all these lights to come on, the other logical part pointed out that if that was the case then why did the stairs not light up until he stepped on them? The room remained illuminated as he sidestepped to allow Dr. Weir to enter as he exited.

"Doctor Weir. You have to see this." Sheppard did not recognize the voice on the com, but the excitement behind it was obvious.

"I have a lot of things to see. Just be careful."

John moved over to a blank screen on the back wall and could hear Rodney muttering to himself as he took a cover off yet another console. The screen activated suddenly and blue lights started to scroll across it with what he assumed was Ancient symbols... er words. "I didn't touch anything." He raised his hands to demonstrate and the console in front of him lit up.

"Relax, Major. It's like the entire complex is sensing our presence and coming to life." Weir smiled at his reaction, wondering also if indeed it was Sheppard's presence that was turning on so many pieces of Ancient equipment and deciding it probably was. She felt more than a passing wave of jealousy for the pilot and his ATA gene.

"This has got to be the Control Room." Rodney quickly studied the console he had just uncovered. "This is obviously their version of a DHD."

"Oh, obviously..." Sheppard moved to look at the device. It made no sense to him even as the rest of the console lit up. It certainly looked nothing like the standard DHD devices he had seen in SG mission reports. On a quick glance, the symbols on the keys did seem a match to those on this gate.

"This area could be, uh, power control systems..." McKay indicated another console. "...possibly a computer interface..."

"Hey, hey." Elizabeth grinned at Rodney. "Why don't you find out?"

"Right." John watched as McKay paused and then pulled out a laptop from his pack and cables and set to work. He would have smiled at the scientist's almost childlike glee over the prospect of discovering so many new things if the pain in his head, that had been steadily increasing, was not necessitating too much of his concentration to just appear normal, nonchalant.

"Doctor Weir. Colonel Sumner." John heard the call over his earpiece. "Can you come down and meet me, please? We're three levels down from you."

"Right away."

Sheppard followed Dr. Weir. Although there were already some lights on as they made their way down the three flights of stairs, more came on as they descended. Weir glanced at the major attempting to judge his reaction to what was happening.

"We've only been able to secure a fraction of the place." Sumner met them at the bottom of the stairway and led the way. "It's huge."

"So it might really be the lost city of Atlantis?" Weir craned her neck to catch glimpses of various alcoves and hallways along their route.

"I'd say that's a good bet."

John unclipped his backpack and set it by an illuminated column as he followed the colonel and the expedition leader over to a far wall of windows.

"Oh my God." John's thoughts echoed Weir's words as they got their first look out. "We're under water." Looking up, they saw sunlight glinting on the surface, but it was a long way up. More of the city was visible - unlit but beautiful with its elegantly designed towers of varying heights.

"I'd say we're under several hundred feet of ocean." Sumner seemed a bit awed by the spectacle before them as well. "If we can't dial out, this could be a problem." Sheppard had to credit the purely practical side of the man.

"Colonel. Doctor Weir..." McKay's voice reached them.

"We're under water!" Sheppard glanced back to see the scientist hurrying over.

"Yes, I was just, uh, coming to tell you. Fortunately there is some sort of a force field holding back the w...water." John nearly smirked at the look of amazement on the normally cynical scientist's face. "Oh, that is impressive, isn't it?" Sheppard looked out over the submerged city and tried to get a mental picture of how the city was laid out from their vantage point. It appeared that they were in the central location and probably the highest of the towers.

"Um, Doctor Beckett has found something you should, uh, see." McKay tilted his head to indicate they should follow him.

ooOoo

"... in the hope of spreading new life in a galaxy where there appeared to be none..."

They could hear a woman's voice before they entered the room. John brought up the rear and suddenly found himself squinting at the glowing holographic image of an Ancient woman in white robes. He could not quite stop a grimace as his building headache blossomed into a full-blown migraine.

"...Soon the new life grew, prospered. Here ..."

"It's a hologram." Beckett was standing on a podium directly in front of the woman's image. "The recording loops. This is my second time through."

"What have we missed?" Sumner looked intrigued.

"Not much." Their attention was drawn to the glowing figure.

"... exchange knowledge and friendship." Above her head a three dimensional holographic map of the galaxy appeared. John was reminded of the star maps he had called up out of the Weapons Chair at the Outpost. "In time, a thousand worlds bore the fruit of life in this form. Then one day our people stepped foot upon a dark world where a terrible enemy slept. Never before had we encountered beings with powers that rivaled our own. In our overconfidence, we were unprepared and outnumbered. The enemy fed upon defenseless human worlds like a great scourge until finally only Atlantis remained." They watched as the starmap indicated the growing tide of the enemy's insurgence. "This city's great shield was powerful enough to withstand their terrible weapons but here we were besieged for many years. In an effort to save the last of our kind, we submerged our great city into the ocean. The Atlantis Stargate was the one and only link back to Earth from this galaxy, and those who remained used it to return to that world that was once home. There, the last survivors of Atlantis lived out the remainder of their lives." Sheppard barely managed to clamp down on a groan as the pain in his head ratcheted up yet again. "This city was left to slumber, in the hope that our kind would one day return." He wondered if he was imagining things when the woman's gaze appeared to lock on him for a very long moment before she disappeared as Beckett stepped off the podium.

"Oh. So the story of Atlantis is true. A great city that sank in the ocean." McKay shook his head in amazement.

"It just didn't happen on Earth," Dr. Beckett added.

"Well, the ancient Greeks must've heard it from one of the surviving Ancients." John kept to the back of the group and surreptitiously rolled his head, attempting to release some of the tension and maybe a bit of the headache. Peter Grodin hurried past him to McKay.

"I don't like the fact they got their asses kicked." Sumner did not sound happy.

"Let's hear it again from the beginning," Beckett instructed the holographic image as he stepped up on the podium once again.

"Stop!" McKay was vehement. "Turn it off." Carson hurriedly stepped off the podium and the holographic woman disappeared.

"Power levels throughout the city are dropping like a stone." McKay started for the doorway.

"What does that mean?" Sumner demanded.

"That if we don't stop everything we're doing right now, we are dead." Grodin followed McKay out of the room. John saw the worried looks exchanged by Weir, Sumner and Beckett as they hurried to catch up.

ooOoo

"Please tell me this is not my fault." Beckett looked really worried as McKay typed furiously on a laptop that had been connected to one of the consoles.

"No."

"Thank you!" The doctor sighed with relief.

"From what we've been able to ascertain, the city is powered by three Zero Point Modules." McKay explained. "Two are entirely depleted and the third is reaching maximum entropy. When it does, it'll die too and nothing can reverse that."

"Just tell me the bottom line." Sumner prompted.

"The force field holding back the ocean has collapsed to its minimum sustainable levels. Look, you can see..." He pointed to a screen displaying the snowflake shape of Atlantis and indicated a couple of areas highlighted on it. "Here and here, where the shield's already failed and the city's flooded. It could have happened years ago. This section is likely more protected because of the Stargate."

"What if it fails completely?" John had found a short stack of crates and had settled on them. His headache remained unchanged. He compartmentalized the pain as a distraction and firmly locked it away for the moment.

"It's a matter of when, not if."

"Colonel Sumner, you need to order your security teams to stop searching the city immediately." John understood almost at the same moment that Dr. Weir truly grasped the reality of the situation. Every bit of exploration done brought more and more systems online and used even more precious power.

"All security teams fall back to the Gateroom." Sumner tapped his earpiece.

"It's not going to be good enough." Rodney continued to examine the readouts on the laptop.

"All right, well, how much time do we have?" Weir asked.

"It's hard to say. Hours, maybe days if we minimize power expenditure." McKay bit his lip.

"What about our own power generators?" Becket suggested.

"We're working on that, but even with our most advanced naqahdah power generators, the equations are coming up far short." Rodney shook his head.

"So we need to find more ZPMs." Sumner sounded as if he expected them to be found stashed in a cupboard somewhere. John looked over at Dr. Weir. He had read the same reports she had; they all had. ZPMs were just not the sort of things left around to be discovered by accident.

"Now how do we do that if we can't search the city?" Sumner gestured impatiently.

"If there were more here, we'd be able to detect them." McKay was not about to let the military leader cow him.

"Can we use the Stargate?" The colonel gestured towards the dark, silent gate on the lower level.

"There's nowhere near enough power to open a wormhole back to Earth."

"Maybe somewhere in this galaxy." John recalled clearly from the reports he had been scanning for the last week that the power requirements for a regular gate connection were quite small in comparison to the trans-galaxy wormhole.

"That's relatively easy." John almost smirked at McKay's almost reluctant acceptance that someone had offered a possible solution and it was not the great McKay himself. He and Dr. Weir flanked the scientist as he moved to the console that had been designated as the DHD. "Fortunately, some Ancient technology still uses good old-fashioned push buttons, so we've been able to access the Stargate control system and a library of known Gate addresses in the database."

"That's not all. Look at this." Grodin touched a button and a shimmering force shield covered the Stargate.

"Just like the iris on the Earth Gate," Sumner commented.

"Using power..." Rodney's tone was low but urgent. "...using power... using power." Grodin frowned as he quickly shut down the shield.

"At least we don't have to deal with any uninvited guests." Weir turned towards Sumner. "Colonel, assemble a team. We need safe harbor, or better still, another power source."

Sumner nodded and tapped his earpiece. "Lieutenant Ford, gather security teams one and two. Everyone gear up." He quickly headed out of the control room and down the stairs.

"Major, I want you to go along." She looked pointedly at John.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"All right." Weir, knowing the need for urgency, turned to McKay. "Pick an address, start dialing."

John turned to leave and abruptly the room tilted. John grabbed at a still darkened console to steady himself, but it flashed to life at his touch and his headache spiked up several notches. Shit.

"Major Sheppard?!" He heard the concern in Dr. Weir's voice and he knew he needed to just suck it up and get on with his duty.

"I'm good..." John stepped away from the console, putting his best poker face on, and stepped toward the doorway. He felt an oddly warm tickle on his upper lip and went to wipe it away with his fingertips and realized he could taste blood at the back of his throat.

"Chevron one encoded." McKay's voice seemed to be coming from a great distance as John's world filled with an excruciating, blinding white light and then fell to darkness.

ooOoo

_He blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the much lower light levels on the Pegasus side of the wormhole. Other than a brief slap of bitter cold, travel through the Gate had not been painful. His headache, however, had flared back to life, not horrible, but an annoyance nonetheless. He frowned; why was he nearly overwhelmed by a sense of déjà vu? He turned on the light attached to his P90 and slowly scanned the area. He noticed that a few lights popped on and brightened around them, seemingly a reaction to their presence. Each addition to the ambient lighting seemed to increase the ache behind his eyes. He clenched his teeth and ignored it._

_"Teams one and two, secure the immediate area." Sheppard watched as the marines moved swiftly to follow orders. "Everyone else find an open space and park it until instructed otherwise."_

_"Hey." He noticed McKay standing slightly behind his left shoulder. Something about the darkened gate area made even the Canadian scientist speak in hushed almost awed tones. John nodded then stepped to the main flight of stairs in front of them. There were already a few marines checking the second level, but he figured what the hell._

_He set a foot on the first stair only to have it light up instantly. Pausing for a moment as once again the discomfort moved up another notch, he hesitantly put his foot on the next step and that lit up along with the ones above it. Again an increase in his headache. He glanced at McKay who appeared perplexed. What the hell?_

_"Who's doing that?" Dr. Weir looked around the upper level intrigued._

_The hairs on the back of his neck were prickling as he and McKay reached the landing._

_...acceptum..._

_What? Who? No one else seemed to hear anything unusual. He turned to a darkened room to his right and more lights blinked on. "The lights are coming on by themselves."_

_...ta... gerin... recurse..._

_The ache in his head expanded._

_...ta... ani...ubi clava... ubi clava..._

_Where was that voice coming from? It was difficult to concentrate, but he knew this was vitally important. The pain wanted to block everything out. Yet, abruptly almost as if someone had flicked on a switch, the pain abated and the mysterious words made sense. 'welcome... you have returned... you are the key...' Well sort of..._

_...tuti... outomatiese uitkom... 'safe... automatic emerge...' A what? Emerge?_

ooOoo

"...Major Sheppard?..." Something was pressed to his head... his face-no, his nose. He tried to turn his head, fend off whatever it was. "No, Lad, don't move yer head just yet." Hands held him down. "Just try ta relax, Major."

He pried open his eyes and immediately slammed them shut as he moaned. Everything was too bright and moving and blurred and there was a horrid coppery taint in his mouth. He tried to swallow and gagged and abruptly his stomach spasmed violently. The next few moments were a chaotic mix as the pain in his head blotted out almost everything as he was rolled to the side and supported as his stomach attempted to purge everything he had eaten for the last week.

Then he was gently lowered on his back and although still nauseous and feeling like a wrung out dishrag, the throbbing ache retreated enough for him to think, to remember... What... "Wait!" He needed to tell them something only it came out as a ragged half-whisper from his too dry mouth and raw throat. John opened his eyes to find the area now only dimly lit and Carson Beckett kneeling next to him looking very concerned. There was a swift pinch to his arm and he felt the sting of a needle.

"There. Hopefully that'll help settle yer stomach." Even as John thought to protest, Beckett handed off the empty syringe. He did not want to be drugged. He needed to tell them... "Let's try a wee bit o'water, shall we?" The doctor and someone he did not recognize leaned in and lifted his head and shoulders minutely as a bottle of water was held to his lips. "Slowly now, just a sip or two." The water was lukewarm but it was wet and it helped clear some of the wretched taste on his tongue. The moisture soothed parched tissues and calmed the ragged raw feeling in his throat. He sighed in relief as he was lowered once again. "Better, Son?"

"Yeah." John blinked several times finally taking in his surroundings. He was lying on a cool, hard floor and there were tables...no, half-lit consoles looming above him. The Gate Control room... "Wait! Dr. Weir! Colonel Sumner!" He tried to push himself up only to fall back with a faint moan.

"Major, ye should not be movin' just yet." Beckett grabbed his wrist and checked his pulse. "Relax for the moment." The doctor frowned and then pulled out his ever-present penlight.

"Aww, Doc." He was really starting to hate that penlight.

"It'll just take nought but a few seconds, Lad." His eyes burned and watered after the doctor was done, but at least the headache did not increase. "Bit better that."

"I need to tell Dr. W-Weir that-" Fatigued flowed over him like a wave, trying to pull him under. Vaguely he recalled that anti-emetic drugs tended to cause drowsiness. He blinked hard to clear his head as well as his vision. "-need to tell her... and the colonel that-" His eyelids drooped despite his best efforts. He needed...

ooOoo

He woke slowly first hearing voices and footsteps. Someone held his wrist for a short while then something hard and cool against his chest. His brow furrowed as he tried to recall what had happened and why his head felt so weird. The voices and footsteps had moved away before he managed to open his eyes. Blinking several times, he realized wherever he was the lighting was very dim and for that he was grateful. There was a slight musty, stale smell to the air and he tried to place it; his thoughts felt like they were moving through molasses...

Atlantis! He looked around and realized he was reclining on the bench he had seen in the empty office just off the gate control room. The Gate... Atlantis and the power situation... Oh... He had no idea of how much time had past, but he knew he needed to take care of something as soon as possible. Slowly, he pushed himself to a sitting position and was relieved when the ache behind his eyes did not increase and the room remained stationary. There was no time to explain and he knew Carson or Elizabeth would only try to stop him, possibly delaying him until it was too late.

Carefully, he pushed the metallic emergency blankets that had been draped over him to the side. Using the wall for support, he managed to get upright and was happy to find that although his tach vest had been removed, he was still in his uniform (jacket and shirt both unzipped) and boots. He brushed absently at a rusty-brown stain on his jacket as he waited for his legs to stop feeling quite so wobbly. Glancing around, he saw Weir and McKay studying readouts in the control room and beyond them he could see Beckett talking with some of the medics.No one looked in his direction as he silently made his way out the far side of the office.

Instinct or perhaps subliminal urging directed him into what at first appeared to be a small storage area. But when the door closed behind him, the area lit up and the screen on the far side displayed a map of Atlantis similar to the one that Rodney had used earlier. He touched it and knew that he was in another location even if there had been no sense of movement.

The doors slid opened to a dimly lit corridor and he turned right as he exited the agituri...transporter. A bare minimum of lights came on as he past through the corridors; only enough so he could move safely. Just as well since he had not located his P90 with its flashlight before his hasty exit. His sidearm was still in its holster but his telecom earpiece was missing as well.

By the time he reached his destination, his headache had begun once again to intensify. Whatever pain reliever the good doctor had given him was apparently wearing off. The cool damp air raised goose bumps on his arms and shoulders. He touched his forehead and found it to be warm and sweaty. What the hell? Was he running a fever?

ooOoo

"...Kien 'n Machiko, please make cert'n ye check that ev'ryone's had somethin' ta eat 'n drink 'n a place ta rest for a few hours. No need for people ta be gettin' sick while we wait for more news." He glanced over his team and was proud of them. They had remained calm in the midst of the chaos and uncertainty of the real probability that they were going to have to evacuate the city of Atlantis in a matter of hours. "Ev'ryone set then?" Nods from all around. "Al'right then, on wit' ye."

"Well, Dana, luv..." He turned to the sturdy young medic standing at his side. "Time we check on the good major." Carson was at a loss to diagnose what was happening with John Sheppard. All medical records on the pilot indicated that aside from injuries incurred during missions, the major was generally hale as the proverbial horse. Apart from the two infirmary stays as a result of prolonged interaction with the Ancient tech at the Outpost and at the SGC, the last time the pilot had been the pilot had been hospitalized was for injuries incurred during the incident that left a black-mark on his service record, well over eighteen months ago. Sheppard had been healthy just the previous evening when Carson had finally signed off on his release from the infirmary.

He nodded to Elizabeth, who had looked up from her intense discussion with Rodney, as he and Dana threaded their way through to the empty office they had settle Major Sheppard. The lights came up as he crossed the threshold. "So-" He blinked in surprise. "What the-?"

"Where'd he go?" The med tech sounded as surprised as he felt.

When they had left Sheppard for the short meeting with his people, the major had been in a deep sleep; a side effect of his body's exhaustion and the Compazine that had been administered to combat the nausea. His pupils were unevenly dilated and sluggish to respond to stimuli, his blood pressure was low and he had a low grade fever. Virtually it was a repeat of the symptoms he had displayed at the SGC and the Outpost. The only problem was Carson knew for a fact that the major had not been been interfacing deliberately with any Ancient tech. There just had not been any time for it. And then there was the nose bleed. There did not seem to be any immediate cause for the bleeding and it had stopped fairly quickly. Unfortunately, there was no way to do a scan on the major until they were able to unpack the equipment they had brought with them and that could not be done while Atlantis was rapidly running out of power. There was no way the major should be up and about.

"Major?!" He turned to Dana. "Go down to the Gate area. See if he somehow managed ta wander down there." Carson glanced around the office and headed for the back doorway. "Major Sheppard?!" The hallway was dark but the lights came on, somewhat slowly, as he checked it out - no sign of the major. "John?!"

"Carson?" Elizabeth met him on the connecting walkway on his return to the Control Room. "What's wrong? Is Major Sheppard all right?"

"I dunno, Elizabeth." He shook his head at the worried look he received. "He's gone missin'."

"What?" She looked behind him to the obviously empty office. "But I thought-"

"Aye, 'Liz'beth, I thought he was asleep too." He hurried to the main stairway and saw Dana looking up and shaking her head.

ooOoo

The Chair in the center of the room looked to be a twin to the one he had sat for so many hours while in Antarctica. It glowed softly when he sat in it and leaned back. It also very slowly began to turn. The last ZPM was fast approaching total entropy; he had to do this now. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on activating the outomatiese uitkom - the failsafe device to raise Atlantis from the depths.

Sheppard felt the City reach out to him and the connection slipped into place. His headache disappeared in the euphoria of the moment. Endorphins were a wondrous thing, a tiny portion of his brain dredged up that seemingly random fact. Atlantis was very happy indeed to greet him, to help him help her. He traced the path of the command to release the City from the watery depths and he felt multiple thumps and clangs - some faintly through the floor of the room, others via his connection to the City. He could actually feel Rodney's attempts to discover what was happening. There was a sense of panic in the life signs he could feel scattered around the Gate room area.

There - the last clamp was released, the entire complex shook roughly and then they were moving. He could see Atlantis surging upward and as the main level piers cleared the waterline he shut down the shield. The sunlight sparkled off the buildings so long hidden beneath the ocean and the shield. Atlantis was a glittering jewel on the waters.

Raising the City before power reached absolute critical meant that the ZPM would be able to retain a small bit of its charge for future emergency needs. He felt the connections that Rodney and the other scientists had worked on to link a series of naqahdah power generators into the power grid. For the moment, they would be more than enough to supply minimal energy needs. A pause for some rough calculations and the City indicated the Chair could be operated on a limited basis via the generators and in a pinch the nearly depleted ZPM could be called upon. He powered down the last ZPM and switched all power draws over to the Earth generators. There was a momentary dip in lighting and then it stabilized.

The City showed him how the links could be made more effective as well as a way to make the generators themselves more powerful and more efficient John sent translated copies of the schematics and instructions to Rodney's laptop where it was connected in the Gate Control Room as well as to the laptop that Peter Grodin used. He concentrated on damaged areas the City brought to his attention; some would require extreme caution in their handling. It took but a few moments of thought to translate the lists and precautions, prioritize them and send them onto McKay and Grodin as well. Another tiny part of his thoughts brought a realization that Atlantis must be learning from him as well - making the translations much easier. She was nearly desperate in her need to communicate with those now residing within her walls.

He smiled as he sensed Atlantis was practically humming in its excitement at once again be host to so many. She had been alone for such a very long time. The Chair powered down abruptly. No! There was so much more to be done, so much more to be learned. But he was unable to summon the focus to reconnect through the Chair as his headache returned with a vengeance. It felt as if he had been run over by a troop transport; his whole body ached as overwhelming fatigue washed over him. The only good thing was that there was nothing in his stomach as it joined in the chorus of complaints.

A strong sense of concern... worry enveloped him as he found he could not even summon the effort to open his eyes. Idly, he wondered if he should have informed someone of where he was heading. He shivered and thought wistfully of the blankets that had been draped over him when he first regained consciousness. His last coherent thought was that Beckett was going to kill him...

ooOoo

"Lieutenant Ford, report!" Time being of the essence, it was already approaching twilight and Sumner decided that they had more than enough intel on Athos. Damn, the planet had one hell of a short "day".

"Not much happening here, Sir." The young officer hurried to catch up with him as they headed back to the Gate. "Ms. Emmagan did explain a bit about the Wraith. It kinda seems like they could be the same enemy you said the Ancients battled."

"Sounds promising. These people might be able to provide us with enough intel so we can try to be prepared if we run into these 'Wraith'."Silently, he had to admit to himself it was more likely 'when'. For if they were the enemy the Ancients had finally fled from, he had a very bad feeling about all this. A couple of the men from the village, who had grudgingly acted as guides to the ruins across the river, had stopped at the treeline and simply watched Sumner and his men as they neared the Gate. "Listen up. For the time being, the Athosians are willing to allow us to evacuate here. Whether it will be permanent or not depends on things we don't have the time to concern ourselves about. Smitty, Parker, since we're going to be evac-ing our people here probably asap, I want you to stay here on Gate duty. Keep an eye on things. These Athosians don't appear to be hostile and let's not give them any reason to change."

"Dial her up." He nodded to Sergeant Bates. Moments later after the wormhole stabilized, Sumner tapped in his IDC. "Atlantis, this is Sumner. We're coming in." Once acknowledged, he waved his men through.

"What the hell?" The last thing Colonel Sumner expected when he stepped through the event horizon on Atlantis was for brilliant sunlight to be flooding through the upper level windows. He squinted momentarily as he looked around. Moving towards the main stairs directly ahead he noticed the flurry of activity in the Gate Control Room and that it seemed that there was now a concerted effort to move crates and pallets of boxes out of the area. He quickly assessed the view from one of the windows and realized with a start that the city was now above the waterline.

"Ah, Colonel, welcome back." Sumner turned to face Dr. Weir.

"Would anyone care to enlighten me as to what the hell happened here?" He waved to the brightly lit windows on the higher levels. "Last I looked before we left through the Gate, we were at least several hundred feet under the surface and the city was in imminent danger of flooding. So what changed?" He followed her through the Control Room into the room across the walkway. Obviously the good doctor had laid claim and set up her office as he spied her laptop on the desk and her backpack stowed in the corner.

"Well, we're not entirely sure." Weir gestured for him to take a seat. "We had all expedition members get everything prepared for a quick evacuation. Several of the scientists and technicians were in the power centre and working to connect the naqahdah generators in hopes that we could buy a few more hours of shield time. But nothing was working. We watched as pieces of the city flooded as the shield collapsed bit by bit. There was serious consideration of just dialing the Gate and sending everyone through even though your mission was not yet complete."

"But-" Sumner started to interrupt.

"Yes, I know we could have been walking into a very bad situation." She raised her hands in a helpless gesture. "But when faced with drowning or walking onto an unknown planet... Sometimes refugees have no choice."

"True enough," he conceded. "So what happened to change everything?"

"Almost two hours ago the whole complex started rumbling. We were certain the shield was failing so Peter started dialing out but before he could finish everything started shaking. Before we quite knew what was happening, the whole city was rising up and we broke through the surface in only moments." It was clear that Weir was still amazed by events.

"It's good to know we don't have to leave immediately." He unzipped his tach vest and got a bit more comfortable. "How's the power situation holding?"

"Well, that's another part of the mystery." Sumner frown, not quite liking this. "Not only did the city rise to the surface just before things got too desperate, when it was all over we found that the last ZPM had been switched off and the current power needs are being reasonably handled by the trio of naqahdah generators we were trying to install."

"That is what you said you were trying to do before, right?"

"Yes, it was, but it wasn't working as well as our people wanted." Weir shook her head. "Somehow though everything was switched over smoothly and all connections seem to be holding. Dr. McKay says there is even a small amount of charge left in the ZPM for future use if needed. It's not much, but who knows that little bit could make a huge difference. But what is even more amazing is that we've now got schematics and instructions to improve the connections, even the generators so that we're in a much better position than we'd even dared to imagine only a few hours ago."

"Sounds good to me, Doc." Sumner motioned to Sergeant Bates, who had been standing on the walkway just outside the control room, and handed his tach vest and P90 to him. "Frankly, it's a good thing we're not in an all fire hurry to evacuate to Athos." He found a chair and settled down.

"Was there a problem?" Dr. Weir looked concerned. "The message you sent indicated that you had made contact with the indigenous people?"

"Well, let's just say they were not completely pleased with our presence. Their level of technology appears to be rather low as well. We did discover ruins of what appeared to have been a city built by a more highly advanced people - perhaps the Ancients themselves. While the Athosians did not actively prevent us from checking out the ruins, they were rather reluctant to guide us to the site claiming that there was a curse on the old ruins." Sumner turned for a moment and motioned to Bates. He quickly ordered a recall of the two men left on Athos after a message was delivered to the Athosians that the situation had changed but the lines of communication would be maintained. The rest of the men should fall-out for the short term. They deserved a break.

ooOoo

"...Okay, you should be on the correct level now..."

Beckett tapped his earpiece. "Are ye certain?" He sounded slightly out of breath after climbing down over twenty stories. His knees were beginning to protest. Lord help him, but he did not even want to think what it would be like to climb back up! The marines that were serving as their escort were quickly checking their surroundings - two men in each direction. They had all noticed that after the tenth level below the Gate area the levels had all been much darker, only lit whenever daylight filtered through the windows. He noted that there were low level lights already lit leading towards their left. He suspected he knew why.

"...uhh... Yes, you're definitely on the right level...Turn west... er left and the room should be about fifty or sixty meters ahead and to your left..." He could actually hear the keys that Grodin was swiftly tapping over the radio. "Okay... We've got another bit of the biometric sensors sorted. Confirmed that the bio-signature must be Major Sheppard as we're picking up his subcutaneous transmitter now..." He could hear Rodney talking to Grodin and Elizabeth as well about what he had found when they reached the ZPM power centre.

"Aye, that's a good thin' then." The marines were leading the way with Beckett, a nurse and two med techs following carrying between them a litter and several pack of emergency medical gear. The lights came up brighter as soon as the doctor past through. He was more and more convinced that the city was reacting to the presence of the ATA gene carriers. And he had a suspicion that meant-

"Doc!" one of the marines called out as he entered the room they had been directed to.

"Bloody hell!" The room reminded him of the area that encompassed the Weapons Chair in the Antarctic Outpost; seemingly all powered up with multiple displays scrolling. But his attention was immediately drawn to the figure slumped in the darkened upright chair. He knelt next to John Sheppard and checked for a pulse at the wrist. "70. Vagus." Even as he thought that more light was needed for a proper evaluation the light level increased automatically. He touched his fingers to the major's throat. "Still slow." The major's skin was pasty grey and he was covered in a sheen of sweat; even his hair was plastered to his head.

Rand Jacobs, Beckett's personally selected head nurse for the expedition, was on the other side of the chair and helped Carson gently tilt the major's head and shoulders back. He winced when he saw the dried blood that coated the man's lower face, neck and the front of his jacket. It appeared that the nosebleed had reoccurred although it was stopped for the moment. While the doctor checked pupil reaction with his penlight, Jacobs pulled out the BP cuff from the one of the med-packs and set it on the unconscious man's lap.

"Pupils unequal 'n sluggish." Carson picked up the BP cuff. Behind him, one of the techs was noting the patient's stats on a PDA.

"Let's get that litter emptied and ready to go." Rand turned to the other med tech and motioned for him to line the bottom with one of the thin emergency blankets. He pulled out a digital ear thermometer and momentarily inserted the tip into Major Sheppard's outer ear. "Temp's 101.7."

Meanwhile, Carson had taken the his patient's blood pressure. "105 over 75. A wee bit low." He handed the cuff back to Jacobs and moved earpieces in place and set his stethoscope on the major's chest. "Respiration's slow but good breath sounds." He pulled the earpieces out and draped the stethoscope around his neck. "All right then, let's get 'im ready ta move shall we."

With careful movements and the strong arms and hands of the two med techs along with Jacob's supporting the major's head and shoulders they eased him from the chair into the metal litter. "Okay, I want an I.V. set up - dextrose/saline fo' the present." Carson paused and offered a silent prayer that the rest of his crew had managed to set up the basics in an area that Rodney had located that was label in Ancient as 'Medical Centre'.

I.V. in place, port securely taped in place, Jacobs with the help of a med tech covered Major Sheppard with another blanket and they tucked the edges in and affixed the straps to hold their unconscious charge securely during transit. They quickly packed up the rest of the med supplies and shouldered their packs. It was going to be a long trip back.

"All set then?" A quick glance around. "Let's get this over wit' then." At that moment the lights flickered three times in succession and they all looked around, a bit wary. He tapped his com-unit. "Rodney?"

"Busy here." Carson shook his head at McKay's natural brusqueness. "What do you want?"

"I thought you said the power levels were stable." The lights seemed steady at the moment. "We just had a wee spate o'flickering here."

"What?" He heard keys clicking rapidly. "Let me check." More clicks and voices in the background. "No, the generators are all running properly... Levels in the main tower are stable... No, no indicators of trouble where you are."

"Hmm... guess twas a momentary glitch o'somethin'."

"Did you find Sheppard? Is he okay? Will he be all right? Do you know why he took off like that? What's so special in that area? We still haven't managed to decipher all of the layouts. Haven't-"

"Rodney!" Beckett cut him off as he nodded to his people and they headed out into the corridor with their precious burden. "Ta answer what I can. Aye, we've found the major. He's unconscious at the moment 'n we don't know the prognosis just yet." He paused as they maneuvered around what looked like a huge, petrified plant that had collapsed sometime over the last million years or so. "We don't know exactly why he disappeared earlier, but I suspect you'll want ta visit where we found the major. There's a chair there 'n control area that could be a twin ta the Outpost Weapons Chair back on Antarc-"

"A Chair room?! Oh, I've gotta get down there to see it! As soon as I'm done here." Beckett shook his head. "How far out from the main tower are you?"

"Oh, we're only a bit more than two dozen floors down 'n about fifty or so meters out." He heard Rodney moan over the length of the trip, but was distracted when a doorway snapped open at the end of the corridor a few meters left of the stairwell. The marines were instantly alert with weapons directed ahead. His team instinctively pressed themselves to the side of the corridor hopefully out of the direct line of fire.

The man on point moved cautiously into the lighted alcove and stepped back. "All clear." The rest of the unit was double checking the surrounding area. "Wonder why it didn't happen the first time we passed through here?" The medical team started forward and they moved towards the stairs.

Carson grimaced and rub at a temple as a headache bloomed. Bloody hell, just what he nee-. He blinked as he heard _agituri_ echo faintly in his head. He closed his eyes for a second. "Hold on." He motioned for one of the marines to take his spot holding the litter and stepped to the brightly lit niche. The moment his foot touched the inner floor a back panel lit up to display the snowflake wire-frame map of Atlantis. "I know what this is." No point in explaining how; no one would believe him anyway. He certainly did not understand it either but just knew that he had needed to know this. "It's an elevator... of sorts..."

"Okay, Doc." Sergeant Markham, the marine on point, seemed more than a bit skeptical. "And you would know this-how?"

"Trust me, Son." Beckett just knew that somehow he had been given the bit of information so that they could get back to the main levels and the infirmary as quickly as possible. "D'ye really want ta climb up two dozen flights of stairs carryin' the litter?"

"Well." He watched as Markham thought it over for a moment then the man nodded. "If you're positive, Dr. Beckett." Carson nodded and noticed the raised eyebrows of his own team but ignored them.

"All right then." He motioned everyone into the small alcove. This was a tight fit with the litter and equipment but they managed to squeeze in, barely. He instinctively touched the display behind him, trusting that whatever had helped them thus far would continue. Only a bare few seconds later the doors slid open to reveal the corridor that led to the new infirmary. Everyone looked surprised, but relieved as they quickly exited the cramped transporter.

ooOoo

"...rumor going around that you discovered how to use these 'elevators'? Now, it definitely makes things easier, but how did you figure it out, Carson?" Rodney actually sounded a bit aggrieved as if Carson's find was somehow out of bounds, stepping on the astrophysicist's territory. "Since your first use, we've discovered a number of them spread throughout the complex - the entire city of Atlantis - and these transporters move not only up and down like an elevator but can travel virtually it seems instantaneously to any other corresponding transport location. I suppose it only makes sense. If the Ancients created the Stargates to travel between worlds, even galaxies then it's perfectly reasonable to think they'd have site to site transport down to a simple press a button or spot on a map and voila there you are. Do you think Sheppard used one to get down there? You said he wasn't in any shape to be wandering around but he got down all those levels and shouldn't he be awake by now? How long has it been?"

Fleetingly, John wondered just where he was supposed to have gone and what was with that rhythmic beeping that never seemed to stop?

"And we're still not sure what triggered the city to rise up when it did. Back tracking through some of the subroutines, it appears there was some sort of failsafe in place but only if the shields were in imminent danger of total collapse. Only it just wasn't quite to that level yet. And something shut down the ZPM and switched everything over to our generators. That doesn't appear to have been preprogrammed. Don't really know how it could have been. The Ancients could not possibly have known we'd bring our own power generators and try to hook them in and-"

His mouth tasted sour with a coppery tang chaser. Blech.

"And the schematics for making the connections more efficient. And not only that, the other ones that seem to be-" He had been listening for quite some time before what was being said made any sense. A cool hand touched his wrist. His head ached... really, really throbbed. "...already translated. And then the prioritized lists..." Sometimes just listening to Rodney made his head hurt anyway. His thoughts were mired in quicksand; hardly moving, sometimes disappearing into nothingness before being fully discerned. Even with his eyes closed, it felt as if everything around him was in motion.

"...I'll nowt ask ye again, Rodney. Keep yer voice down... Or go 'way." Briefly, he felt something tighten around his left bicep and then release. "So did ye manage ta check out that Chair room?" Why was he so warm? God, he was so damned tired.

Something poked his ear hard. "...oww..." He groaned and tried to turn his head away. "g'waay..." Big mistake. Big. Huge. He was going to be- "...sick..." Someone helped him roll to the side as his stomach spasmed... again... and again. There seemed to be a mad flurry of activity in the too bright room around him. He was trembling by the time the bout ended. If someone had been taking bets, he would have bet a year's pay that his head was going to explode from the pain. He was gently rolled to his back. A cool and damp cloth brushed against his mouth and chin.

"Hey, who adjusted the lights?... Oh, that's just truly gross and unsanitary."

"Rodney!" Even Carson's low-pitched stage whisper caused John to flinch. "Stay quiet 'n out o'the way o' ye'll be escorted out." He breathed slowly hoping his stomach would stop trying to eject itself from his body and that the throbbing ache behind his eyes would turn itself down a few notches, anything short of exploding brain matter would be enough for the moment. "Major, d'ye think ye can open yer eyes for me?... The lights have been dimmed a bit for ye." Cautiously, he slitted his eyes and then blinked them open when the dim lighting did not hurt. A very concerned Beckett slowly came into focus above him. "Do ye know where ye are, Lad?"

He licked his lips as he slowly looked around, careful to not move too quickly, and recognized the smell of alcohol and disinfectant. Surprisingly, his head stayed attached. "'firmary?...Doc, we gotta stop meetin' like this. People are gonna talk..."

"Aye, Laddie, they jus' might." Beckett gave him a small smile. "How're ye feelin'? Honestly..."

"ummm... Like I've been ridden hard 'n put up wet." John paused as he tried for an aboveboard appraisal. "Head hurts. The room's still swaying a bit. Stomach's not too happy. Too warm. Tired. Kinda achy... Sort like I've got the flu from hell."

"Aye, let me do a complete assessment now that you're awake." Truly exhausted, he let his mind drift as the doctor did his thing, including the damned light in the eyes that left him with a spike in his headache level and spots in his vision, fortunately both temporary. He frowned as he tried to recall how he had ended up in the infirmary yet again... Wait... Atlantis?! It all flooded back.

"Did it work, Doc?" He went to push up on his elbows.

"Whoa, just keep still for a wee bit, Son." A hand on his shoulder easily restrained him.

"McKay? You still here?" He grimaced as he turned his head to look for the scientist. The man had been rattling on about failsafes and power generators, right?

"I'm here." John caught sight of Rodney just over Beckett's shoulder. "What's the matter?" The doctor was not looking happy about his patient's agitation.

"Did it work?" At the blank look he received, he continued, "Bringing the city to the surface early. We were hoping there'd be some charge left on the ZPM... Just in case... you know for the future?" McKay's mouth was open in shock. John grimaced as he grappled with his recollections. "The naqahdah generators should be okay for now... at least we thought so... But we sent you some specs to improve things... I think..." The fatigued that pulled at him was relentless. "...don't think I imagined that..."

"Major, ye need ta rest 'n nowt get too excited right now." "Are you saying you made all that happen?! What do you mean by 'we'?!" "Lad, I'm goin' ta give ye something ta help wit' yer head 'n stomach 'n it should help ye rest for a wee bit."

"I..." He had lost the threads of what happened as weariness made thinking just about impossible. His eyes slid closed as he felt the spreading warmth of whatever drugs Beckett had added to the I.V. port in his hand.

ooOoo

Rodney desperately wanted to question the major over what tidbits he had dropped before falling into an exhausted sleep so he settled for quizzing Carson instead. "Did he say what I think he just said?!"

"What was it ye thought he just said?" Carson checked Sheppard's vitals once more before ushering Rodney into the small side room that had been set up as the CMO's office.

"That he - well, he did say 'we' but I don't know who else he could be referring to - he's the only one unaccounted for when it happened. Anyway he or they made the city emerge early, before the failsafes kicked in. That it was so the last ZPM could be conserved for future use. And that he-they sent the specs for improving the naqahdah generators and the connections into the city's power grid to us. But that's just impossible. He couldn't possibly know what to do. I mean I know he interacted with the Weapons Chair in the Antarctic Outpost and all and he's more intelligent than the average flyboy, but it was nothing like this. Not in this grand a scale or complexity." McKay was pulling up something on the display on his laptop and turned it around for Beckett to see.

"Okay, that's the Chair back on Earth 'n this is-" Carson pointed to the right side of the side by side comparison of two highly complex pieces of technology. "-the Chair we found the major in?" Rodney nodded. "On the surface they look almost identical, but this one seems to have many more connections to it leading out into the... city?"

"Absolutely, the one here is multifold almost exponentially more complex, I'd even say it is perhaps third or fourth generation removed from the one on Earth. Who knows what it is capable of?" Rodney absently pulled a powerbar from his pocket, ripped open the packaging and started munching on it. "Could he have meant the Chair when he said 'we'?... Still doesn't make sense though. Everything indicates the Chair while sophisticated isn't sentient..."

"Have ye considered he might have meant the City?" Rodney frowned at his suggestion. Carson continued. "Atlantis herself? After all, we know there's a huge complex computer network that runs 'n monitors it, right?"

"And with the Ancient's technology there's no reason why the computer mind running Atlantis could not be self-aware... even sentient." The astrophysicist paused for a brief moment then snapped his fingers several times. "Yes! Yes! Actually it makes perfect sense because give it self-awareness, an ability to learn, to monitor and protect... even help maintain and repair itself..." Beckett was positive that McKay's eyes could not have gotten any larger as the man considered the import of what he was theorizing.

"So we have a city - a sentient being essentially - and its been hibernation pretty much for the last several million years waiting for its creators to return. Then one day who appears - us backward Tauri... Terrans. God, I bet Atlantis was pretty damned disappointed with our lot showing up." He snapped his fingers again. "Until John Sheppard, USAF pilot and uber ATA gene carrier walks through the wormhole. Atlantis must have been relieved, extremely relieved... maybe even ecstatic. I wonder..." He continued with more finger snapping. "From the data the MALP relayed it was dark on this side. Everyone that first walked through the Stargate said it was still damned dark on this side then just a short time later lights started turning on around the Gate area. I remember that cause when I followed Sheppard to the main stairs they suddenly lit up as he stepped on them. But I know we saw security teams already wandering about up on the next level. They were reacting to him. The lights around the Gate area on the stairs in the control room." He shook his head in astonishment.

"Elizabeth was right. The entire complex was reacting and coming back to life but mainly because of John Sheppard and his super ATA gene." He fixed the doctor with a penetrating gaze. "Did you notice things turning on just for you? How about any side effects from the interaction?"

"Aye, I did notice a bit. That lights turned on 'n doors opened fairly easily for me." He gave the scientist a rueful smile. "'n aye, I've got a wee bit o'a headache meself."

"I bet all the ATA carriers have a headache by this time." Rodney quickly typed something into his tablet. "Since you and the major have the strongest abilities to use the ATA, he got the worst of it and you're next in theory."

Carson frowned. "We should probably check on the others ta make certain they're all right."

ooOoo

It had taken a bit over an hour to contact all the ATA carriers that had joined the expedition and have them report to the infirmary. All confirmed the presence of headaches to varying degrees. Fortunately none appeared serious and he handed each patient off to his team as they appeared to be evaluated. Rodney had retreated to the area that had been assigned (at least temporarily) as labs for the scientific team. He had been muttering to himself about going back down to the Chair Room first thing in the morning along with something about having the Czech get started on deciphering the info on upgrading their generators. Carson knew the scientist was known for going for days on end with only a few hours of sleep so he was not too worried about him at the moment.

His own headache had leveled off to something between moderate to severe. He could still function even without treatment, but after having his own stats noted he had medicated with a dose of aspirin and acetaminophen combo with a caffeine chaser. The pain had receded greatly within twenty minutes. If this was only a minute taste of what the major was experiencing, the man had his sympathies. As the figures were being added to the medlab database, Carson retreated to his office to begin evaluating what was happening.

"Sir? You really should talk to Dr. Beckett first... Sir, that patient is-" Voices penetrated his concentration and Carson frowned.

"Shirking. That's what he's doing." The doctor was up on his feet and heading out of his office immediately. "You people have got to get it straight. This... officer-" It was painfully obvious that Sumner felt it was a misnomer. "-is more trouble than he's worth." Carson heard the privacy screens being shoved aside. "Why the hell is it so dark in here? Sheppard needs to get off his backside and help out with-"

"Colonel." Beckett marched up to the expedition military commander. "Keep yer voice down." He glanced down at Sheppard and was relieved to find that the man was still asleep probably because of the combination of his condition and the drugs in his system. "My patient needs ta rest an'ye will talk ta me in mah office." Sumner just narrowed his eyes and glared at him. "Or you will be escorted from the infirmary." Carson had worked with the military enough to know that a Chief Medical Officer had command of the infirmary except under the most dire of circumstances.

"Fine."

He shut the door firmly before turning to look at Sumner. "Colonel-"

"What is it with you people? Sheppard is nothing but a slacker and trouble looking to happen." Sumner himself looked fatigued even if his anger seemed to fuel him at the moment. "The man obviously decided hanging around the city was more interesting than checking for a viable evac site so he pulls another of his dramatic scenes and suddenly everyone is falling all over themselves taking care of him?" The colonel waved an impatient hand in the direction of the major's bed. "In case it slipped your notice, we were a disturbingly short period away from having to vacate this facility only a few hours ago and your... patient should have at the very least been helping his boss, Dr. Weir, with everything that needed to be handled until my team and I confirmed the viability of Athos. Instead, he was-"

"Instead Major Sheppard was for all intents 'n purposes savin' the city 'n the mission."

"My understanding is that a fail-safe kicked in and brought the city to the surface. The fail-safe saved the city and our mission, Doctor." Sumner looked around the tiny office and pulled up a chair to sit even as Carson settled behind his desk. "I fail to see exactly how this was Sheppard's doing." The colonel folded his arms across his chest. "What'd he do? Wave his so-called super gene and magically make everything turn out okay?"

"Colonel." Beckett tried to keep his voice and tone reasonable, but he was tired of the man's attitude already (had been since before they had left the SGC Headquarters actually). "From what Rodney's been able to piece together, the major used one of the Ancients' control chairs to bring the city to surface." He continued on despite the look of fierce scepticism on Sumner's face. "And he did it early as in the ZPM still has some charge and Rodney thinks this is a good thing for possible future emergency needs."

"So his ATA gene allowed him to access the technology and trigger the fail-safe early..."Sumner grudgingly admitted that Sheppard had been responsible. "So why does this buy him a free ride on the sick-list? The man is lazy, a shirker." Carson sighed.

"We went over this back at SGC, Colonel. Working with the Ancient tech can be debilitating. Every single ATA carrier that is on this mission is suffering from the effects to some degree." He waved a hand around them. "There is so much Ancient technology here just waiting to be initialized and activated. For someone like myself with a strong gene presence it means something just short of a migraine. For someone with a mild gene presence. it means a slight headache. For the major it means a debilitating headache, disorientation, fever and..."

ooOoo

Carson Beckett hit the final key sequence and waited. Scrubbing his hands over his face, he blinked several times hoping to relieve some of the tired burning that had settled in. He sighed as he watched the updates to various medical files move from his laptop to the mainframe.

Another miracle (though mostly due to Rodney's continuing study of Ancient tech well before they had left the Milky Way galaxy) in an impossibly short period of time was that Rodney and his team had managed to blend together a portion Earth tech with a small segment of the Ancient tech and a part (namely Gate Control, the Infirmary, a couple of labs and the Power Control Room) of the computer network was already up. Glancing at his watch, he realized that it was very late (or very early depending upon your point of view) and that most of his staff had bunked out in the empty cots and beds around their new Atlantean Infirmary. With as much work as they had accomplished in their first day in the Pegasus galaxy, assigning personal quarters for the expedition members was pretty low priority for the first day.

For all the excitement and worry during their first hours in Atlantis, they had been far more lucky than not. They had not been forced to abandon this beautifully elegant, intriguing, mysterious complex city. They had through serendipity brought with them their most valuable resource - one Major John Sheppard. Currently, their sole patient was deeply asleep surrounded by monitors and had become the object of no little curiosity and unfortunately animosity.

He shook his head. The major was on Sumner's 'hit list' and it was unlikely that would change anytime soon. As soon as he had a spare moment and could steal a bit of Elizabeth's time, he needed to warn her. He knew that the attitude of the military commander of the expedition was likely to spread among his men (it probably already had) and Sheppard was going to be in for a rough time of it. Hell, Sumner had been all for waking the major up and making him help the rest of the military staff as they worked steadily to move equipment and supplies to areas where they would be needed. Rubbing his eyes, he moved over to the cot (no doubt one of his people had set up for him) and settled for catching a few hours of rest.

A bit of sleep and he might just be up to handling the challenges awaiting him. The lights dimmed as he settled under a blanket unaware that a mere thought had initiated the change in his office...

ooOoo

Deep within the sentience that inhabited the magnificent city, it collated facts and data it had collected since the Stargate had activated for the first time in so many millennia. It sorted and studied and analyzed the beings that now resided within its walls. To outward appearance, they looked not unlike the creators of Atlantis and all that it encompassed. On a more basic biological level they were of the same 'stock' that the Creators had seeded in both this galaxy and the one they had abandoned so long ago that even to the awareness that was the City it seemed a far, far distant past. When the gate had activated, standby systems had powered up awaiting input from the Creators upon their return.

But its Creators had not walked through the gate and the City had nearly despaired. It feared it would take too long to communicate properly with the beings that did arrive and the power situation was fast approaching critical. Then he had stepped through. Tall, taller than the Creators had been with a mind unlike the Creators, but a there was an inherent goodness about the man, a strength of purpose as well as intelligence and curiosity. On a subconscious level he had been aware of the attempts at communication almost immediately, but he had been resistant to its efforts at the start. When he finally connected through the Chair, she had been relieved and joyous.

With easy deference, the sentience accepted the unconscious references that John Sheppard attributed to it. She was Atlantis. It was only as they worked to solve the issues about the ZPM and raising the City from the depths of the ocean that Atlantis realized that the differences between the Creators or Ancients (as Sheppard thought of them) and the differences in these modern humans while not seeming to be insurmountable did have some serious consequences. She could feel that Sheppard's endurance was too quickly approaching its limits.

There was another of these new humans that had a strong compatibility to her and her technology. This one, while not so strongly connected to the Ancients, fascinated her. His mind was different from Sheppard's; he was a scientist like so many of the Creators had been. She could sense his natural talent for healing. Atlantis knew Carson Beckett would care for her Sheppard. She had done what she could to aid those that retrieved him from her chair room.

ooOoo

ooOoo

02 Clava Atlantus (key to Altantis) - complete

tbc... in 03 Perennial Adventus (the approaching disaster) Summary: What if Colonel Sumner had not died as a result of the emergency mission to Athos? What if Sheppard had to deal with the consequences of the military commander's animosity and learning to deal with all the Ancient tech as well?

ooOoo


End file.
